| A Work in Progress Chapter 2 |
| Author: Valeyard Rating: R Disclaimer: She doesn't own, so don't even bother. |
| Vegeta awoke on the floor of the training room. He looked at his surroundings dazedly, until he remembered leaving the bedroom. He still wasn’t sure when he had stopped training to sleep. It just happened. He was unusually hungry and was rather looking forward to breakfast. Bulma was already having breakfast, looking terrible. Her eyes were red rimmed, looking like she had no sleep at all. Vegeta thought it best not to engage her in conversation, which only seemed to make her more agitated and hostile. Women! Try to be the least bit sensitive to their needs and they get upset anyway! What was he supposed to do? If he were upset about something, his space is what he would want! Try to show the same consideration toward a woman and they just get all the more hostile! He hurriedly shoveled down his breakfast and got up to go anywhere but there, Bulma’s eyes boring holes in the back of his head as he left. "This is your idea of a happy marriage?" His inner self derided him. "Stuff it!" He said out loud. Trunks passed him in the hall, eyes wide, and Vegeta knew Trunks must have overheard. He hoped he would pass it off as "Dad in one of those moods." Vegeta pretended like it didn’t happen. Vegeta was not sorry Trunks was there, even if he had overheard him. In fact, he was glad he was there. "Trunks" Vegeta demanded, "have you eaten, yet?" "Um," Trunks stopped and shifted uneasily, "I was just heading there now." "Good!" Vegeta said to Trunks’ surprise. "Look in on your mother, she is upset this morning. Then meet me in the training room. You can tell me what she said while we are training." Trunks winced. Vegeta could tell this was not what he wanted to hear. "Um, me and Goten were hoping to go riding." Vegeta gave Trunks a sour expression. "You can go cruising for girls another time." Vegeta inwardly chuckled. He was a Saiya-jin all right! Not all conquest was won on the battlefield. Trunks’ face fell, he rolled his eyes, but he turned around and walked to breakfast. Vegeta walked the opposite direction, a voice in his head screaming. "This is your heir? A pretty half-breed boy, who would rather go babe trolling than uphold the warrior tradition of a proud race? Do you know how many worlds I had conquered by his age?" Vegeta didn’t bother answering this inner rage. It was true that Trunks would be different had he not been raised entirely on earth, but then, he wouldn’t be at all, were that true. He was a pampered, rich boy, and his mother had far too much influence on him. There was hardly anything to do about that. He could hardly expect Bulma to butt out. "Kill her and take the boy, somewhere where he can be trained properly! He may be a half-breed, but he does have potential." The veins were popping out in his forehead and his arms tensed under the strain of trying to block out the screaming in his head. What was happening to him? He had lived with Bulma in relative peace for several years. Why were these feelings being awakened in him? It’s not like they had ever gone away, but now they raged in his mind like a caged animal screaming for release. As we walked by his room, he saw the sun streaming in his window. He thought of how many lonely years he spent in the cold of space. No sun, no warmth. Yet, all these years on Earth, he hardly went outside, unless necessity drove him. Maybe that was his problem. He needed to change his pattern. Vegeta walked with deliberate steps away from the training room, and stepped outside the Capsule Corporation. He stood there sullenly looking up the street leading away from the Capsule Corporation Building. Small winged reptiles squeaked and twittered in the trees, people strolled down the street smiling. One forlorn figure walked toward the Capsule Corporation Building. She looked to be an old lady the way she halted as she walked. Vegeta suddenly felt foolish. What was it about a little sunshine and fresh air that made people so careless and lazy? He should be training, he thought, and turned to go back inside. Trunks came bounding out the door, eyes shining full of hope. "Hey, Pappa!" Trunks enthused. "Thought you wanted to train today, change your mind?" He looked into Trunk’s hopeful, lavender eyes. They were so much like his mother’s. Something in Vegeta gave in. He couldn’t be stern with him. "I just came out here to get a breath of fresh air, before I went in." Vegeta said fighting to keep the blush of embarrassment out of his cheeks. He had really hoped he would not be seen. But Trunks was not listening to his father. His eyes fixed on what Vegeta had taken for an old lady as she now walked by them. What Vegeta had taken for an old lady from a distance, was actually a girl of not more than 14. She hobbled on a badly wrenched foot, and she held an arm that hung limply at her side, possibly broken. She looked dusty and dirty, but as she came close, Vegeta and Trunks could see what looked like dirt was actually old and dried blood. Vegeta turned to look at Trunks. Trunks never took his eyes off the girl as she walked by them. Vegeta regarded her. Yes, he supposed she was pretty for her age, beautiful in fact, despite her wild and dirty appearance. Wild was an understatement. Her hair stood in pink curlicues all over her head, framing her face, and falling into pink tangles down her back. Her skin, what could be seen of it, under the blood, was white with a slightly pinkish hue. Despite the attention Trunks and Vegeta were giving, she totally ignored them. In fact, she behaved as if she could not see anyone. She had her head down and continued to halt and shuffle her way past them. "Er, Miss" Trunks practically squeaked. Vegeta inwardly cursed. Leave it to Trunks to forget all discipline on a pretty face! The girl continued to walk up the street as if she had not heard. "Miss!" Trunks called louder. The girl stopped then halted toward Trunks until she was only inches from his face and studied it closely. "I don’t know you. I’m sorry, but I don’t know you." She then walked away, but suddenly stopped as if remembering something and walked toward Vegeta. In fact, to even Vegeta’s shock, she walked right up to within half an inch from his face and studied it for several minutes. Vegeta took two steps back, but the girl only advanced that many steps and got even closer. "I know you. Yes I know you!" She then turned and started to halt away, mumbling to herself. "Yes, I know you, if only I could remember. Maybe, I could place where I know you." Lowering her head again, she headed back up the road as if she had never spoken to the pair. "Miss!" Trunks was starting to get on Vegeta’s nerves and he scowled at him to let him know this fact. Love sick puppy! Vegeta growled but Trunks ignored the warning. The girl, however, seemed dazed, and she, too, totally ignored Vegeta’s consternation. She turned toward the sound of Trunks’s voice, but her eyes had the glazed look of one on drugs or close to unconsciousness, or both. "Miss, I think you need some help. It’s pretty obvious you’re hurt, and probably in shock. Why don’t you come inside and we can get you some medical attention?" This offer didn’t seem to register at all with the girl. She just stood there staring at Trunks, making no sign that she comprehended a word. "Besides," Trunks added pointing to his father, "you said you knew him." "Leave me out of this!" Vegeta hissed at his son. Trunks, undeterred, had only eyes and ears for this mystery girl. "Perhaps if you come inside with us, it will give you time to remember." That seemed to have some persuasion on the girl. She turned toward Trunks and followed him inside the Capsule Corporation. Vegeta inwardly growled that he was going to put Trunks through a double regimen of training for this. Trunks slammed the door after the girl, right in Vegeta’s face, before he had a chance to come inside. Vegeta stood there for a moment, staring at the door as if it had personally insulted him. He was going to triple Trunk’s regimen, when he got a hold of that brat! He pulled the door open forcefully and stalked down the hall after the pair to see where they were going. Trunks took her into the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" "Yes!" Was the reply. "Maybe you want to wash up first and then we can get you something to eat." "No, food now!" The girl said in a determined tone. Trunks raided the refrigerator of what food was left over from breakfast. She ate all of it. "Have you got any more?" She asked. Trunks took a look in the cupboard and made a bunch of sandwiches. She launched into them as if she hadn’t eaten in a week. Vegeta looked in on them and scowled. He turned to the main rotunda and flew up to the second level. He never used the stairs. Bulma was clattering away on a computer keyboard, and didn’t hear him as he stepped inside the doorway. He leaned against the doorjamb in a posture of sarcasm and arrogance. The smirk on his face could also be heard in his voice. "Your son has picked up a stray." Vegeta said to Bulma. Bulma’s tone was still icy as she spoke to him. "Cat, dog, reptile?" "Female." Vegeta answered, suppressing a lecherous chuckle. "What!" Bulma jumped up from the computer and flew past Vegeta like he wasn’t there. Vegeta inwardly kicked himself. Why didn’t I just kept quiet? Now, not only will she be acting strangely over last night but now she will be in a roar because her son is eyeing some stray he picked up on the street. Vegeta told himself he would probably get the blame for not stopping him. He drew a heavy sigh as he followed after her. The same insanely, demonic voice screaming over and over again in his head. |